Organizers chose Dover to host the Firefly Music Festival in part because local officials and Dover Downs staff are well-versed in managing traffic for a major weekend event.

But Firefly traffic is not NASCAR traffic.

On race weekends, spectators know to be trackside by noon. They stay a few hours, and some start to leave with 100 laps to go.

No one’s waving a flag to start and end Firefly. The three-day festival beginning Friday could draw 30,000 music fans to town.

“There’s really no start time, except that if you bought a ticket for all three days, you’re going to want to be at your campsite by 1 p.m. Friday,” said Jim Clacher, manager of the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Traffic Management Center near Smyrna.

Bands are performing on various stages and fans will come and go from the festival grounds, catching their favorite acts and skipping others.

“The traffic issues will be a lot fewer than we’d see during a normal race weekend,” said Dover Police Lt. Alan Rachko, who has helped coordinate traffic control efforts.

“This is a 12-hour event each day, while NASCAR is four. People will be coming in staggered intervals with a large crowd leaving at midnight,” he said about the difference.

Taking back roads, such as Del. 9, to avoid the congestion on U.S. 13 won’t be very effective, officials say. They plan to close Leipsic Road and Persimmon Tree Lane near Dover International Speedway starting at 1 p.m. Friday and at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Festival organizers distributed passes to affected local residents so they can cross police checkpoints, but for the most part officials will keep those roads clear for pedestrians crossing Del. 1 to and from the festival grounds, Clacher said.

The plan is for festivalgoers to arrive via U.S. 13. Those headed to general parking will use the main entrance to Dover Downs across from Delaware State University.

Campers will turn onto Leipsic Road to check in at the Lot 1 entrance between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday and before 10 a.m. Saturday. Once inside the area, campers can’t go and come by car.

“Putting all these people in one place to park makes it easier for us to manage them when they’re leaving,” Clacher said.

The music ends about 11 each night, and festival grounds close at midnight. Once most pedestrians have left the area, officials will allow vehicles on portions of Leipsic Road and Persimmon Tree Lane from roughly 1 to 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Clacher said.

Technicians will be remotely monitoring congestion along area roadways, adjusting signal timing as needed.

Clacher said officials don’t anticipate any significant overlap between Firefly and beach-bound traffic.

“Our [traffic] detection usually tells us that Friday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. is when most New Castle County traffic is leaving to go to Sussex. On Sunday, the exodus starts around 1-ish, depending on [the] weather, and is pretty steady until 11 p.m.,” he explained.

“Most of that exiting beach traffic will be through Dover by the time the festival lets out,” Clacher said about the planning.